Exposé Online banner

Carpe Diem — En Regardant Passer le Temps
(Musea FGBG 4122.AR, 1976/1994, CD)

by Mike McLatchey, 1994-10-01:

En Regardant Passer le Temps Cover art This may be one of the longest anticipated CD reissues of all time for progressive rock, the great Carpe Diem's debut album. Hailing from Nice (home of Shylock, Step Ahead, and Visitors), this quintet produced two albums of very high quality, before being lost in the turn of the decade. En Regardant is a supremely excellent example of progressive rock and especially of the French scene, on par with the greats — Atoll, Shylock Île de Fièvre, Pulsar Halloween, Arachnoid, Terpandre, and Artcane Odyssée. It took hints from the past and combined them to express something new and unique. Carpe Diem had their roots in the early English style — King Crimson, a little Van Der Graaf Generator, East of Eden, and to a lesser extent Marsupilami — yet their music was undeniably more of a result of the French culture with a sound that reminds one slightly of Gong or Moving Gelatine Plates. Their music was spacey and atmospheric with that rare sense of professional restraint that only the classic symphonic groups has like PFM, Banco, or Ezra Winston. The result was a slightly jazzy and very spacious music of a fragile and delicate nature, yet with a sense of power that grows behind the complex musical structures. What makes this album's four tracks great is Carpe Diem's refined sense of melody, which reminds one of the great moments of their contemporaries like Shylock or Arachnoid. Often their melodies are very harmonically rich with three parts from keys, sax, and guitar. I could go on and on — this album is superb and essential, a classic that has surely stood the test of time.

by Henry Schneider, 2016-05-12:

Here we have Carpe Diem’s long awaited excellent debut album from 1975, studio enhanced and reissued on CD. Despite the Camel and Genesis influences, Carpe Diem created a complex, lyrical, and subtle music blending rock, classical, and jazz themes. The keyboards and saxophone are simply outstanding. Musea faithfully reproduced the original album artwork correctly achieving the ‘mirror’ effect the artist intended, but didn’t accomplish, on the original gatefold sleeve. This M. C. Escher styled black and white art also appears in all its glory on the CD. Despite this excellent packaging, there is one minor error. Musea got the timings right but the song sequence wrong in the booklet. The correct song sequence is "Voyage du Non-retour," "Reincarnation," "Jeux du Siecle," and "Publiphobie." En Regardant Passer le Temps is one of the foremost examples of sophisticated French rock and should not be missed by the serious collector.

Filed under: New releases , 1994 releases, 1976 releases

Related artist(s): Carpe Diem

More info

Latest news

2020-10-14
Audion Is Back in Business – Our esteemed colleague Alan Freeman has restarted Audion Magazine after a seven year hiatus. The new incarnation is available online on their Bandcamp site. Audion's history goes back to 1984, and included 58 issues up to 2013. Issue #59 is available now, and #60 is in the works. » Read more

2020-10-06
Romantic Warriors IV – Krautrock (Part 2) Is in the Works – Zeitgeist Media, the people who have brought us the great series of documentary films chronicling the history of progressive rock, are working on the second installment of their examination of German music. Krautrock 2 will focus on artists from Münich such as Guru Guru, Amon Düül II, Xhol Caravan, Kraan, Witthüser & Westrupp, and Popol Vuh. » Read more

2020-09-09
Simeon Coxe RIP – Simeon Coxe, best known for his experimental electronics in the band Silver Apples, has died at the age of 82. The band's 1968 debut album set the stage for both German electronic music and experimental punk music a decade later. Coxe died on September 8 from pulmonary fibrosis. » Read more

2020-09-05
Gary Peacock RIP – Legendary bassist Gary Peacock, veteran of many recordings and performances with Paul Bley, George Russell, Roland Kirk, Bill Evans, Tony Williams, and many more. » Read more

2020-07-22
Tim Smith RIP – Tim Smith, leader of the eccentric band Cardiacs, has died at the age of 59 after many years of health problems. Cardiacs was known for intense and complicated music that combined punk energy with the rhythmic and harmonic sophistication of progressive rock. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Phoenix - Renascent Phenomenon (Archives 4: 1970-1971) – Supposedly this album of songs was written back in the early 70s for the original version of Dutch group Phoenix, which included Jos Hustings who, along with partner in crime Mathilda Roza, is...  (2005) » Read more

Nels Cline - Coward – Make no mistake: Nels Cline is a modern guitar hero of high caliber. This recording begins with a looped drone reminiscent of Soft Machine before carefully exploring new channels. Cline gracefully...  (2010) » Read more

Il Castello di Atlante - L'Ippogrifo – This is the follow-up disc to the rather well-acclaimed Sono io il signore delle terra nord. To sum up Il Castello's history, it is a band that exists since 1976 but never recorded anything. A...  (1995) » Read more

Various Artists - Un Voyage en Progressif Vol. 1 - 3 – Musea is currently on a campaign to make the many artists on their label better known to the prog-buying world via these three budget-priced compilation CDs, each featuring about a dozen different...  (2000) » Read more

Present - Live! – Present is back in black. When we last heard from this Belgian band — 1995's studio reformation disc COD Performance, the lineup consisted only of Roger Trigaux and his son Reginald, both on...  (1997) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

Cheer up, Amorphis, it's not all hopeless

More recommendations
The Eighteenth Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival 2019

Print issues